The Week: Most Recent fast-food-nation

10 disgusting objects allegedly found in fast food

The Week — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:10:00 -0400

Sure, fast food is convenient, cheap, and arguably tasty. But from time to time, consumers get a lot more than they bargain for — and we're not talking extra curly fries. From weird animal parts to syringes, here, 10 disgusting things people claim to have found lurking in their fast food:

1. An unidentifiable chicken organ
Earlier this month, a couple from the small town of Ocala, Fla., were returning from the movies and decided to swing by a local Popeye's Fried Chicken to bring home food for the young one. After opening the box's greasy lid, the pair realized they'd gotten a bit more...

Burger King's shift to cage-free eggs: A game-changer?

The Week — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:38:00 -0400

Burger King is winning praise from animal-rights activists after announcing Wednesday that by 2017 it will only buy eggs and pork that come from cage-free animals. Currently, just 9 percent of the chickens that produce BK's eggs and 20 percent of its pigs are cage-free. "Many tens of thousands of animals will now be in better living conditions," says Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States. Burger King is the world's second-biggest fast food chain, so the shift is expected to expand the market for humanely produced food and pressure rivals to follow suit. Is this a ...

The cheeseburger pizza and 9 other Frankenstein fast foods: A slideshow

The Week — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:50:00 -0400

If you loathe choosing between a meat-laden pizza and a juicy burger, Pizza Hut in the Middle East has you covered. One-upping Pizza Hut U.K.'s recent food wonder — the Hot Dog Stuffed Crust Pizza — Pizza Hut Middle East's Crown Crust Pizza has mini cheeseburgers nestled into its crust. Not feeling the beef? The Chicken Fillet version has a crust made of chicken strips. If you're still hungry, here are nine other fast-food combos to tempt those daring tastebuds.

Should Big Macs be sold in hospitals?

The Week — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 18:16:00 -0400

Feel like gobbling a greasy Big Mac while you wait for test results at the hospital? It's easier than you might think to find a Mickey D's in health-care facilities, which is why the watchdog organization, Corporate Accountability International, is calling for the removal of McDonald's franchises from clinics nationwide, including the prestigious Cleveland Clinic and seven children's hospitals. The group's motion, endorsed by 2,000 health professionals, urges hospitals to end their contracts with McDonald's and "stop fostering a food environment that promotes harm, not health." Considering that...

Mary J. Blige's Burger King ad: 'Racist' or just 'hilarious'?

The Week — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:02:00 -0400

Burger King's much-ballyhooed rebranding — part of an attempt to stop a steep slide in sales — is getting off to a rocky start. The company dropped its new ad featuring hip-hop artist Mary J. Blige after it was assailed by fans for being "racist," "scary," and unintentionally "hilarious." (Watch below.) Burger King insists that the spot was scrubbed for unspecified "licensing issues," but that didn't douse suspicions that the negative response forced the burger chain to backtrack. Here, a guide to the controversy:

What's in the ad?
The clip features Blige standing on a table in a Burger...

Burger King's healthier menu: Can BK launch a comeback?

The Week — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:35:00 -0400

Burger King is rolling out 10 new dishes — the largest expansion of its menu since the venerable burger chain first opened its doors in 1954. The additions include smoothies, snack wraps, and salads, and are notable for being much healthier than Burger King's usual calorie-bomb fare. The shake up is part of a broader campaign to resuscitate the company, which last year fell to the number-three slot in the burger chain hierarchy, behind McDonald's and Wendy's. The overhaul will include a makeover of restaurants that have gone to seed, and a new advertising blitz featuring Jay Leno, David Beckham...

The McRibster: A new, improved, European McRib?

The Week — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 12:31:00 -0500

The enigmatic McRib is back — and, this time, it's popped up overseas in an even less sensible incarnation known as the McRibster. McDonald's updated version of the cult-favorite sandwich, is a far cry from the typical sauce-slathered pig innards on bread. Will McRib purists salivate or cry foul? Here's what you should know:

What's the difference between the McRib and McRibster?
The classic McRib is a sauce-drenched processed pork sandwich with onion and pickle fixings. The McRibster, on the other hand, is a "monster of a novelty sandwich," says Paul Forbes at Eater....

McDonald's ban on tiny pig crates: A 'tipping point' for animal welfare?

The Week — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 06:30:00 -0500

McDonald's has been the target of close scrutiny from animal-rights groups for years. But now the world's most recognizable fast-food brand is winning praise from some of its former critics for pledging to phase out the use of gestation crates for its pigs, which are used for pork products ranging from the sausage in its breakfast sandwiches to the McRib. Could such a "crate ban" set a precedent for better farming practices in the United States? Here's what you should know:

What are gestation crates?
They're tiny metal stalls that hinder a sow from turning around or moving. Many of the animals...

McDonald's burgers: Now without 'pink slime'?

The Week — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 07:30:00 -0500

The "pink slime" once mixed into McDonald's hamburgers is gone. The world's biggest fast food chain is promising revisions to its beef recipe following mounting consumer pressure incited by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver on his TV show Food Revolution. Is the fast food industry turning a new leaf? Here's what you should know:

What exactly is the 'pink slime'?
The term was coined by Oliver to describe a mix of "beef trimmings washed in ammonium hydroxide to kill bacteria," says Loren Steffy at the Houston Chronicle. It has been used as a filler in McDonald's burger patties in the U.S. Oliver, a vocal...

Can Taco Bell own breakfast?

The Week — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:10:00 -0500

Taco Bell is joining a "mad scramble" of fast-food chains competing for the growing breakfast-on-the-go crowd. The Mexican-inspired franchise business announced Thursday that it is rolling out a morning menu of breakfast burritos, hash browns, cinnamon buns, and other new items in almost 800 restaurants across a dozen Western states. But Taco Bell will have to muscle customers away from breakfast king McDonald's, as well as Burger King, Wendy's, Starbucks, and Subway (another recent breakfast convert). Does Taco Bell stand a chance?

No. McDonald's has too big a head start: "Taco Bell's push may...

Burger King's home delivery plan: A 'couch potato's dream'?

The Week — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:46:00 -0500

Burger King may have lost its spot as the No. 2 U.S. burger chain to Wendy's, but it's not taking its demotion sitting down. (McDonald's is still comfortably No. 1.) BK is borrowing a page from the pizza playbook and rolling out home delivery of its signature Whoppers, fries, and other fast-food fare, starting at a handful of Washington, D.C.–area locations. Some caveats: No fountain drinks, coffee, breakfast foods, or milkshakes; delivery costs $2 an order; and you must live within a 10-minute drive of a participating Burger King. But BK not only guarantees 30-minute delivery &mdash...

Could McDonald's become a leading book retailer?

The Week — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:47:00 -0500

"The latest big name in books isn't Amazon — it's McDonald's," says Lindsay Goldwert in the New York Daily News. For the next month, the fast-food giant is replacing the plastic toy in every British Happy Meal with a book. The giveaway books — six installments of Michael Morpurgo's Mudpuddle Farms series — are a tie-in with Steven Spielberg's new film adaptation of Morpurgo's War Horse. But by handing out 9 million books, McDonald's is also becoming, at least for a month, Britain's largest purveyor of children's books. Could this help McDonald's boost its reputation among anxious...

Does fast food cause brain damage?

The Week — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:53:00 -0500

It's no surprise that eating fast food is bad for you. But just how bad? Recent studies suggest unhealthy foods can actually scar your brain. Here's what you should know:

Brain damage? Seriously?
Yes. According to a study recently published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, fatty foods damaged the hypothalamus region of the brain in rodents. The hypothalamus produces hormones that control hunger, thirst, sleep, moods, and the natural rhythms of the body.

How was the study conducted?
Rats and mice were fed a high-fat diet similar to that of many Americans. After just one day, their hypothalamuses...

How Wendy's beat Burger King: 5 theories

The Week — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 12:28:00 -0500

The fast food times, they are a changing. Once-struggling Wendy's is now poised to surpass Burger King in U.S. sales, knocking the Whopper from its No. 2 perch. Wendy's is expected to notch more than $8.4 billion in sales this year, more than $50 million more than Burger King. Wendy's has far fewer locations, too: The chain has about 5,800, compared to Burger King's 7,200 U.S. stores. McDonald's, of course, remains in the top slot, with more than four times the sales of either Wendy's or Burger King. Still, Wendy's ascent marks the first time the top three burger chains have reordered since 1969...

The McRib's suspiciously 'limited' availability: 4 theories

The Week — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 11:48:00 -0500

Now that we all know what's inside the McDonald's McRib (for better or worse), the question is: Why isn't this notoriously sought-after sandwich offered year-round like the Big Mac? First introduced in 1981, the McRib creates a frenzy whenever it makes one of its semi-rare appearances on the menu. What's responsible for its famed elusiveness? Here, four theories:

1. Pork is pricey and unreliable
In the U.S., pork is generally less plentiful, and thus more expensive, than beef. The fluctuating "long-term nationwide availability" of pork probably means that a year-round McRib "simply isn't feasible...

McRib controversy: The pork supplier's 'hellish' methods

The Week — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 11:16:00 -0500

Bad news for fans of the infamous McRib: The Humane Society filed a legal complaint against Virginia-based Smithfield Foods, which supplies the pork for McDonald's sandwich. In an undercover operation from 2010, the animal rights group says it uncovered a number of disturbing farming practices, including the use of tightly confining gestation crates that cause sows to suffer "from open pressure sores and other ulcers and wounds," with nary a veterinarian in sight. Will these gross allegations sully the reputation of the barbecue-sauce-slathered sandwich? Here's what you should know:

Should we...